About us

Stop in and visit our yard and let the knowledgeable sales staff assist you with any of your projects, big or small. Come and enjoy the small town atmosphere of Shakespeare! We serve the golden triangle from Listowel to Woodstock, the tri-cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge to Goderich. Let us know what you need and where and when you need it.

History

In the late 1940's, Bill Akins, who was running a lumber yard in Monkton Ontario decided to move his enterprise to the quaint village of Shakespeare to be closer to the city of Stratford. He quickly joined forces with a Listowel businessman by the name of George Brewer who was operating a hardware business at the time and the two formed Akins-Brewer Lumber. As the name implies they sold mainly lumber ranging from spruce and pine from Ontario and fir and cedar from British Columbia as well as rough hemlock from Barry's Bay. Plywood of course, along with numerous products we have today were non existent at the time. The business did quite well supplying the residential, commercial and agricultural needs of Southwestern Ontario.

In 1960, the business was sold to a group of Stratford businessman who carried on with the same determination as the original owners, expanding inventory, opening up new markets and increasing sales.

In 1977 the company changed hands again when it was purchased by the employees who became shareholders and the name Akins-Brewer Lumber (1977) Limited was formed. Maintaining their independence and still trying to compete with the national chains proved to be somewhat difficult. In January 1985 Akins-Brewer, while still remaining independent made the decision to join the castle building centre group who at the time had a large number of retail outlets throughout Canada. Akins-Brewer was now able to combine their purchases into bulk buys resulting in much lower prices and staying competitive with other lumber yards.

Today, Akins-Brewer still operates in Shakespeare and has become a staple in the community. Operating as a full fledged lumber and building supply yard, Akins has been able to hold onto the business of many large home builders and agricultural contractors while fighting off competition from big box stores.

Stop in and visit our yard and let the knowledgeable sales staff assist you with any of your projects, big or small.